Romania’s U19 misses the Elite round by a single goal

With all the focus on Romania’s double against Turkey and Holland, there was little attention paid to the U19 national team that played three games in Scotland, against the home side, Switzerland and Armenia. But that’s not news, just like the information that the team just missed out on the tickets to the Elite round, which would have been the last stage before the final tournament of the European Championship.

Romania started by earning what looked like a valuable point against Switzerland, Mihai Vodut‘s goal being cancelled by Endogan Adili just before the break. The game was followed by a 0-1 defeat against Scotland, who had won 4-0 their opening game against Armenia, the only change in the starting line-up seeing Alexandru Dan take the place of Iulian Rosu in a midfield line that had a more obvious defensive approach given the profile of the three players used.

Still, the race wasn’t over, as Romania needed to win against Armenia in the final match and a Scotland success in the duel with Switzerland, who had won as well against the group’s weakest team. Unfortunately, although both conditions were met (the home side trailed twice, yet came back and pushed for a win that wasn’t even necessary at that point), Adrian Vasai’s boys won’t make the next step. Dinamo’s Darius Buia scored very late, in the 82nd minute, and Romania failed to add a second goal that would have seen it through to the Elite Round.

It’s a bitter defeat for a decent team formed mainly with players from Steaua, Dinamo and Viitorul Constanta, who would have needed some more experience in its’ ranks. A look at the Swiss starting eleven, where several starters are already used on a regular basis at club level, in the top flight, is enough to see and explain the difference. A small one, if we look at the standings, a bigger one, if we dare to look at the bigger picture.

Radu Baicu

• 10 years of continuous work in scouting, for top clubs and companies;
• Worked for clubs like Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Hannover 96, monitorring the Romanian market;
• Worked for Birmingham based company 'The Scouting Network' (www.tsn.co.uk) as a football scout;
• Worked for Zurich based company Boutique Football as a scouting network coordinator;
• International scout for Young Boys Bern for 2 years, covering Eastern European football.
• Currently working as an international scout for a top French club, covering Eastern European football.